Wire winding and unwinding reel



13, 1945; J. w. HOUSTON 2,391,240

WIRE WINDING AND UNWINDING-REEL FiledJan. 8, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 WIREWINDING AND UNWINDING REEL Filed Jan. 8, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 1945. YJ. w. HbusToN 2,391,240

c/oizn Wfibuaian Patented Dec. 18, 1945 WIRE WINDING AND UNWINDIN G REELJohn W. Houston, Tama, Iowa Application January 8, 1944, Serial No.517,565

6 Claims.

This invention relates generally to the class of winding and reeling andpertains particularly to an improved power operated wire reel.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel poweroperated reel structure designed to be mounted upon 'a tractor frame tobe operated from the belt pulley of the tractor whereby wire may beconveniently and evenly wound up .upon a reel or may be unwound or paidout from the reel smoothly and without difficulty as desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tractor carried poweroperated wire reel having associated therewith means for evenly feedingthe wire to a reel,whereby the wire will be evenly wound up on the reel.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a power operatedreel of the character described in which there is provided a novel reelunit which may be readily applied to a previously wound roll of wirewhereby such roll may be conveniently mounted in the machine to beevenly unwound as desired.

.Still another object of the invention is to provide a power operatedwire reeling and unreeling apparatus with means for guiding the wire.onto the reel when winding up, so that barbed wire may be handledwithout damaging the barbs thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe description of the invention proceeds and the invention will be bestunderstood from a consideration of the fellowing detailed descriptiontaken with the accom- Figure 2 is a view in top plan of the wire windingand unwinding reel, parts of the reel structure being in section.

Figure 3 is a view in elevation of the winding and unwinding reelstructure, viewing the same from the rear, the view being a sectiontransversely of the tractor supporting frame taken substantially on theline 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially upon the line 4-4 ofFigure 2.

, Figure 5 is a view in transverse section of the demountable spoolstructure.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 6-6 ofFigure.2

Figure '7 is a sectional view taken horizontally through the wire linedguide, substantially on the line 'i'l of Figure 3. v

Figure 8 is a view in elevation of the rear axle supported line guide.

Figure 9 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 99 OfFigure 8. v

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line |0--| 0 ofFigure 3. v

Referring now more particularly to the drawings wherein like numeralsindicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral Igenerally designates a tractor frame upon the side of which the windingand reeling mech: anism of the present invention is designed to besecured to be driven by the usual power take off pulley 2 which isconventionally illustrated as extending outwardly from a side' of thetractor extending forwardly therefrom. However the description will beconfined to the mounting of the mechanismframe directly upon the side ofthe tractor frame, it being understood, however, that in giving such adescription and in illustrating such mounting there is no intention tolimit the invention in any respect as to the manner of supporting itupon the tractor frame.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a rectangularframe formed. of suitable material and comprising the inner and outerside bars 3 and 4 respectively and the front and rear bars 5 and 6respectively; This frame is horizontally supported at a side of thetractor by means of the standards I which are secured against the outerside of the side beam of the chassis frame of the tractor by the clampbolts 8 and bars 9 which extend across the chassis frame beam.

Secured to the rear bar 6 of the frame is a depending bracket arm III atthe lower end of which is the rearwardly extending horizontal support II which has secured upon the top side a shaft bear- 1 ing l2. Inalinement with this bearing l2 there is secured to the adjacent rearstandard 1 a bearing l3 and between these hearings is supported a pulleywheel shaft I4 upon which is mounted ported, by the inner and outerframe bars 3 and 4, the shaft'bearings l1 which support a driven shaftI8.

and the outer end of the arm 43 of the reel frame as illustrated.

At the outer end of the reel frame arm there 7 is secured to theupwardly extending portion 45 This driven shaft has mounted thereon therelativel large pulle wheel l9 which is grooved to take a V belt,together with a drive pulley for operation of the level windingmechanism and a socket gear 2| which is disposed upon the outer side ofthe frame bar 6.

The pulleys l5 and I9 are coupled together by the V belt 22 while thepulley I5 is designed to be coupled with the power take on pulle 2 ofthe tractor by the belt 23, This belt is main tained under propertension by the tension roller 24 which is mounted upon a suitablebracket arm 25 secured to the rear side of the frame bar 6 asillustrated.

The V belt 22 is also maintained under the proper tension by a tensionroller 26 carried by a suitable arm 21 secured to the frame above thebearing I3.

At the front of the frame there is supported the level winding screwshaft 28 between the bearings 29 and 30. The bearing 30 is disposed atthe outer side of the frame and supports also the inner end of thedouble or endless screw 3| which extends horizontally outwardly from theframe.

The shaft 28 carries the driven pulley 32 which is connected by a belt33 with the pulley 20 so that the shafts l8 and 28 rotate together, theshaft l8 driving the hereinafter described reel unit while the shaft 28turns the endless screw 3| as stated.

Disposed beneath and in parallel relation with the screw 3| is a guidebar 34, the inner end of which is secured to the hanging bracket 35which is attached to the outer bar 4 of the frame.

Interposed between the guide bar 34 and the screw 3| is the wire guideunit which is generally designated 36. This unit comprises a verticallydisposed frame 31 within which are rotatably supported upon theverticall spaced horizontal bolts 38, the guide rollers 39 which areformed of rubber.

The lower side of the frame 36 carries a foot 40 which is recessed toengage over the guide bar '34 along which the foot slides.

Extending upwardly from the guide unit frame 31 is a slotted arm 4| inwhich is carried the usual mutilated nut, not shown, which cooperateswith a double or endless screw such as that here illustrated wherebyupon continuous rotation of the screw in one direction the nut, notshown, and the parts attached thereto, in the present case the uide unitframe and rollers, will be moved first to one end of the screw and thenback to the opposite end and so on as long as the screw is turning, Theconstruction and operation of a level winding screw and nut of thischaracter is well known and therefore it' is believed that a furtherdescription and illustration of the same is unnecessary.

At the rear of the frame there is secured to the outer bar 4 the reelframe which is generally designated 42 and which comprises thehorizontal arm 43 and the inner and outer upturned portions 44 and 45respectively, the ortion 44 being secured to the outer side bar 4 of themain frame, at the outer end of the rear bar 6.

A suitable bracing means 46 is preferably connected between the lowerend of the standard 1 an extension splice 41, against the outer side ofwhich is disposed the vertical post 48. The post 48 is pivotallyattached to the splice 41, at the lower end of the post by the bolt 49and is constantly urged in against the splice 41 by the spring 50. Abovethe bolt 49 the post is detachabl coupled to the splice 41 by theremovable bolt 5| whereby, upon removal, the post can be oscillated onthe bolt 49 and can be shifted outwardly against the tension of thespring 50 for the purpose hereinafter described.

Upon the upper end of the post 48 there is secured, upon the inner sideof the post,-a bearing cradle 52, the top of which is open but hasextending thereacross the removable cotter pin 53 or other suitablemeans for retaining in posi tion in the bearing saddle the outer end ofthe reel shaft 54.

Inwardly from the bearing cradle 52 and in alinement therewith there issupported upon the main frame of the mechanism, by the adjustablebracket 55 which is secured to the main frame, a slip clutch unit 56 inwhich the other end of the reel shaft 54 is mounted.

The slip clutch 56 is of standard design and comprises thetelescopically joined relatively movable inner and outer sleeves 51 and58 respectively which are mounted for turning in a cylindrical housing59 which is secured to the supporting bracket 55 as shown in Figure 6.The inner sleeve 51 has a flared end 66 which is loosely connected in atapered central opening SI of a sprocket gear wheel 62. This gear wheelis drawn by the flared end of the inner sleeve against the adjacent endof the outer sleeve by a spring 63 whichforrns a. connection between thesleeves at the ends remote from the ear through the medium of a threadedbolt 64 and an adjustment or tension wheel 65.

The end of the inner sleeve 51 to which the sprocket gear wheel 62 isconnected, is open and provided with a socket 66 of polygonal crosssection to receive the tapered or reduced inner end of the shaft 54which is of corresponding shape so that a driving connection will beformed between the sleeve and the shaft. It will be readily apparentthat upon suitably turning the tension wheel 65 the sprocket gear wheel62 can be tightly gripped between the two sleeves which rotate in thehousing 59 so that rotary movement may be transmitted to this gear andto the shaft 54, from the driving gear 2| through the medium of theconnecting sprocket chain 68, but if excessive drag is applied to theshaft 54 and gear wheel 62, slipping may occur to protect the parts fromdamage.

The real shaft has secured thereto for adjustment longitudinally thereofa driving arm 59 which extends radially from the shaft and which at itsouter end has the angularly turned terminal portion 10 which is directedtoward the outer end of the reel shaft. p

The numeral 1| generally designates the wire reeling spool which isprovided for mounting upon the reel shaft 54. This spool is so designedthat it may be readily applied to a roll of wire to be mounted upon theshaft 54 or it may be mounted empty on the shaft and wire wound upthereon, and then removed from the shaft and separated from the roll ofwire for reuse.

The winding spool comprises the two end or hub discs I2 each of whichhas a number of radially extending arms 13 which are turned orfiaredoutwardly at their free ends as indicated at 14. The center ofeach hub disc is provided with-a suitable opening to receive the shaft54 and one hub disc has secured therein aroundv the central or shaftopening, the ends of a number of tubes 15 which are equi-distantlyspaced rying the tubes 15 and the other comprising the other end discand rods 16, may be readily accomplished by extending the free ends ofthe rods 16 through the tubes 50 that the free ends of the rods willproject beyond the outer side of the disc to which the tubes areattached, to receive the securing nuts 11. Inthis manner the twosections of the spool are rigidly joined together and the spool may bereadily placed upon the shaft 54.

To place the spool upon the shaft 54 the shaft supporting post 48- isreleased'for turning upon the bolt 49 by removing the bolt This permitsthe post to .be oscillated to one side whereupon the reduced or taperedend of'the shaft 54 may be inserted into the socket of the slip clutch.The

reel or spool may then be placed upon the shaft or, if desired, thespool may be mounted upon the shaft before the shaft is coupled with theslip clutch, whereupon by pulling the post 48 outwardly against thetension of the spring 50, the post may be swung back into a positionwhere the outer end of the shaft 54 can be readily en'- gaged in thebearing cradle 52. The post securing bolt 5| is then replaced and thereel or spool is properly supported in position to have wire wound upthereon or to pay out wire from a roll which may have been previouslymounted upon the spool.

In mounting the spool upon the shaft, the angularly turned end of thearm is engaged between a pair of the arms 13 of the adjacent end of thespool. Thus the spool is properly coupled with the shaft so that uponrotation of the latter the proper turning of the spool will beaccomplished. a

It will be readily apparent that where the spool is to be employed forunwinding or paying out wire the tubes of one spool section will be ex19 between the sides of which is rotatably sup: ported the roller 80 andat each end of which roller is mounted for turning on a vertical axis, aguide roller-8|. A depending post 83 is preferably carried by the frameT9 to engage in a sleeve 82 which is secured in a suitable manner to therear axle housing 18' so that oscillation of the frame on a verticalaxismay be had or if such oscillation is not desirable the frame may besecured by the use of set screw 84 threaded into the sleeve 82 forengagement with the post 83.

When'wire is tobe wound up upon a spool mounted on the shaft 54 suchwire is fed to the spool through the guide unit 36, between the rollers39 thereof. By the useof relatively soft rubber rollers it will bereadily apparent that barbed wire may be wound up without injury to thepoints of the barbs and since the unit 36 forms a part of the levelwinding means operated by the screw 3| and the nut carried by the arm4|, it will be seen that the wire will be evenly wound on the For properaccomplishment of such windspool. ing it will be understood that thetension wheel 65 overrun the forward movement of the carrying tractor itwill be seen that tension will be placed upon the wire and in thisevent, if the slip clutch is properly adjusted, slippage will occurbetween the clutch gear 62 and the inner clutch sleeve so that the wirewill not be broken or other damage will not be done either to themechanism or to whatever structure the wire might be attached to.

It will be readily seen from the foregoing that in the present inventionthere has been provided a relatively simple but strong, durable andreliable mechanism which can be readily mounted upon a tractor frame andoperated from the belt pulley means of the tractor for effecting thelevel winding up on a, spool of wire or other stranded material. downreel spool which can be easily and quickly separated from a roll of wirewhich has been I wound up thereon or which can be just as easily tendedthrough the core of the roll of wire and the other spool section thencouples with the first section, the roll and spool then being mountedupon the shaft.

In paying out wire or unwinding from a roll the s'lip clutch tensionwheel will be turned so as to release the frictional connectionbetweenthe clutch sprocket gear 62 and the inner sleeve .51 of theclutch. Thus the reel will be free'to which to carry the wire This wiresupport 18 preferably comprises an upwardly opening frame applied to analready wound roll of wire for mounting upon the mechanism.

I claim:

1. A wire winding and unwinding mechanism comprising a supportingstructure, a slip clutch rotatably supported on the said structurehaving a socketed driven member, a frame attached to said supportingstructure and having an upstanding post having an end spaced from saidsocketed member, a bearing carried by said upstanding post and alignedwith said driven member, a reel shaft adapted to have one endoperatively coupled in said socketed member and having its other endrotatably supported in said bearing, means for turning said clutch toimpart turning movement to the shaft, and said post being shiftablysupported by the frame for moving the bearing out of alignment with thedriven member.

2. A winding and unwinding reel comprising a main supporting frame, arotatable slip clutch supported upon said frame and including a wheeland a socketed member designed to be frictionally coupled together, theslip clutch including means for tightening and loosening the frictionalconnection between the socketed member and wheel, means for transmittingrotary motion to said wheel, a reel frame connected to the main frameand having a portion disposed in spaced Also there has been provided anovel knock relation with the socketed member, a bearingcarried by thesaid portion of the reel frame, a shaft adapted to have one endoperatively coupled in said socketed member and its other end mounted insaid bearing, a reel removably supported upon said shaft, and meanscarried by the shaft and readily detachably coupled with the reel forimparting turning movement to the reel from the shaft.

3. Awinding and unwinding means, comprising a frame, a pair of alignedbearings carried thereby, a rotary clutch unit comprising a sleeverotatably supported in one bearing, a tubular member having one enddisposed in said sleevefor axial movement therein, the other end of themember being tapered and of circular cross section, a wheel having atapered opening therethrough in which the tapered end of said member isengaged, said wheel being of a character to have rotary power appliedthereto, yieldable means coupling the tubular member and sleeve togetherand constantly urging movement of the tubular member in a direction tomove the tapered end toward the adjacent end of the sleeve andmaintaining the wheel bound between the sleeve and member, a shafthaving one end formed for engagement in the tubular member and havingits other end supported in the other bearing, and a, reel carried on theshaft for turning therewith.

4. A structure as set forth in claim 3, in which the said yieldablemeans comprises a stem connected with the tubular member and extendingaxially therefrom beyond the end of the sleeve remote from the wheel, ahand wheel threaded on said stem, and a spring interposed between thehand wheel and the adjacent tubular member.

5. A slip clutch structure comprising a bearing,

a sleeve rotatably supported in the bearing and having at one endthereof an internal flange, a tubular member having one end extendedinto the sleeve from the end remote from the flange and terminatingshort of said flange, the other end of the tubular member being formedto provide a tapered head of circular cross section, a wheel having atapered opening in which said head engages, the wheel being frictionallyheld between the head and the adjacent end of the sleeve, said tubularmember being formed for driving connection with a rotary element, a stemconnected with the said one end of the tubular member and extendingaxially therefrom through and beyond the adjacent end of the sleeve, thestem being threaded, a hand wheel threaded on the stem, and a springencircling the stem and bearing at One end against said internal flangeand hearing at its other end against said hand Wheel.

, 6. A winding and unwinding mechanism, comprising a frame, a pair ofbearings supported by the frame, a clutch unit rotatably supported byone bearing and including a, pair of coupled axially shiftable membersand a spring means yieldably drawing said members one into the other, adriving wheel frictionally held between said members solely by theaction of said spring means, a shaft having one end secured in one ofthe clutch members for turning movement therewith and having its otherend rotatably supported in the other bearing, a reel supported upon theshaft and adapted to be shifted longitudinally thereon for removaltherefrom, and a driving arm secured to the shaft between the reel andthe clutch and extending radially of the shaft and terminating in alateral extension having detachv, able connection with the adjacent endof the reel.

JOHN W. HOUSTON.

